After nearly 15 hours of travel we finally made it to Merida, Mexico!! Once we arrived, we were warmly greeted by Katia and Jose. We got changed into some better clothing for the heat and were on our way. Once we arrived at Casa Blanca we met Trisha and she gave us a tour of the mission house. We took some time to get settled in and then we went grocery shopping and out to eat in downtown Merida. At the grocery store we picked up food for the week including some different snacks and fruit to try. After that, we dropped off the groceries and went out to eat at a restaurant. There we tried a variety of traditional dishes. We also tried Jamaica and horchata which everyone really enjoyed as well. Afterwards, we headed back to Casa Blanca and got some much needed rest.

Our second day in Merida was packed with fun activities and experiences. In the morning we toured the missions programs. We started off touring the daycare and meeting some of the kids and staff there. After that we saw the medical dispensary and met Dr. Sylvia. She explained to us that she sees patients in the community and gives them a lower cost option for healthcare. Her work makes getting treatment for a variety of illnesses much easier and accessible. Following that, we went to Nueva Vida which is an after school program. We met with the girls and staff and than were able to play with them. We played a game where everyone gets a balloon tied to their ankle and you had to pop everyone else’s balloon to get them out. After that we played a tag game and had paletas (frozen fruit popsicles) with the girls. We all had so much fun playing with them and were really grateful they were able to be there. Then we went to downtown Merida where Jose explained some of the history of the Yucatán and we did dinner and shopping. We finished off our evening with ice cream. This shop was a little different and was more like sorbet. We tried many different flavors like guava, peanut, and coconut. We all had a really good day and are looking forward to tomorrow.